Angelo State is the top choice to win a third straight Lone Star Conference baseball title according to the preseason poll announced by league officials on Tuesday.
ASU received 12 of the 21 first-place votes on the ballots cast by LSC coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives for 133 total points. The Rams won their second consecutive LSC Championship last season with a 43-15 overall and 17-6 conference record.
West Texas A&M, the defending LSC tournament champions, finished second with four first-place nods and 122 points just in front of Texas A&M-Kingsville. TAMUK collected two top votes for 107 points to rank third.
Tarleton State (94 points and the three remaining first-place votes), Eastern New Mexico (57), Cameron (51), and UT Permian Basin (24) rounded out the poll.
ASU’s Jacob Boston was tabbed LSC Preseason Player of the Year, while TSU’s Nathan Hickey claimed LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors.
Boston, a senior third/first baseman from Chandler, Arizona, started in 56 games last season, hitting .358 with five doubles, three triples and leading ASU in home runs (11), RBI (54) and slugging percentage (.594). After seeing time at third base, first base and left field, Boston received numerous postseason awards including LSC Player of the Year and third-team D2CCA All-American honors.
Hickey, a senior right-hander from Granbury, Texas, posted a 1.79 ERA in 2017, which set the Tarleton single-season ERA record by a starting pitcher. He allowed just 14 earned runs in 70.1 innings of work for an 8-2 record to earn first-team All-LSC and LSC Gold Glove honors.
The 2018 season starts February 1 with the seven LSC teams playing a 10-week schedule. A four-game series against every other team during weeks 8-14 will determine the LSC Champion. Conference series scheduled weeks 5-7 will not count toward the league standings. Each four-game series shall consist of a 9-inning game Friday, a 7x7 doubleheader Saturday and 9-inning contest Sunday.
The overall LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games, while the winner of the postseason championship will be recognized as LSC Tournament Champion and receive the league’s automatic qualification into NCAA postseason. This season, the top six teams play a single-elimination championship on May 10-11-12, at the No. 1 seed.
Here is a closer look at the voting breakdown for the conference:
| Rank |
LSC Baseball |
1st |
TOTAL |
| 1 |
Angelo State |
12 |
133 |
| 2 |
West Texas A&M |
4 |
122 |
| 3 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
2 |
107 |
| 4 |
Tarleton State |
3 |
94 |
| 5 |
Eastern New Mexico |
|
57 |
| 6 |
Cameron |
|
51 |
| 7 |
UT Permian Basin |
|
24 |